Mice, Flamethrowers, and Iron Men, Oh My!
by Cindylou30
Summary: Pepper is given the task of keeping Howard away from the labs as Tony and Rhodey desperately work to hide the malfunctioning Iron Man repulsion systems. :D Haha, terrible title, I know! XD


_A/N So this was written for celebration when I found out I can now watch IMAA on my phone! Yay! So I got caught up with all of the episodes I missed, finally. If you haven't seen...dang, what were they called... Oh, yeah! If you haven't seen 'The Hammer Falls' or that episode before it...can't remember the name... Oh, 'Doomsday!' So if you haven't seen those two episodes this one-shot is a spoiler. /: If you don't like spoilers, you might wanna stop reading, 'cause I wouldn't want to ruin it for anyone._

_This is also a break from my (finally!) finished story. Writing it was a whole new experience for me, being so used to upbeat story lines, but it was a lotta fun. :) I also recently wrote a one-shot I don't know I'll put up because it was kinda me venting my emotions. ;)_

_Yesterday, a bunch of friends from youth were goofing off with me on Dad's iPad when the screen suddenly went dark. We started freaking out, thinking we had killed it, and a when another friend showed up a little while later (he's good with computers), we asked him to fix it. After looking at it for not even a minute, he said, "The battery's gone dead, brainiac." I felt SO smart... XD_

_Anyway, hope you enjoy! XD_

_Oh, one more thing! (Groans) Okay, okay, I promise after this I'll actually give the story! Just adding that this was written on my phone, so sorry for the not-so-great quality of the writing. Anyway, that was it, I promise!_

_Oh, wait-Just kidding! XD_

_I did not invent the television, the modern cartoon, or anything associated with IMAA. XD_

Pepper fidgeted outside the Stark lab as shouts and thuds echoed from inside the closed steel door, wincing every time she heard one or both of her friends cry out in pain or surprise.

_"I'm having...minor technical difficulties with the repulsion systems of the armor,"_ Tony had explained after he had pulled her to safety from the lasers whizzing overhead with Rhodey and he behind a workbench. _"It's all Rhodey's fault. He messed up the laser and flame systems._"

_"What?"_ the teen had cried indignantly, socking the inventor on the shoulder. _"Even you can't think of a way to pin this mess on me!"_

_"Sorry, sorry, it's just my natural tendency to blame it on the closest person nearby when something goes wrong!"_

Then they had asked her to keep a lookout for Howard and at no costs let him inside the lab until they had managed the faulty wiring and hidden the Iron Man weapons.

Footsteps sounded around the corner, and Pepper gasped as the tall, thin figure of Howard Stark came into view. She hurried over to him, falling into step beside him, practically running to keep up with his long strides.

"Hello, Mr. Stark," she said with a forced smile.

"Hi, Pat-oh, sorry, Pepper."

"What are you doing here?" Pepper asked, stepping in front of him and stopping so he was forced to halt in his tracks. He looked at her in confusion with his sky blue eyes, which were nearly identical to his son's own.

"This is my building."

Pepper laughed timidly. "Oh, haha, ri-ight..."

Just then, a surprised yell followed by several loud bangs sounded from the lab, along with the sound of a smoke alarm blaring its obnoxiously shrill warning.

"GAHHH! Rhodey, my shirt's on fire!"

"What the?" Howard took a step forward, eyebrows knotted together in worry, before Pepper threw her arms out, barricading the path to the lab.

"You can't go in there!" she cried.

"And why not?"

"Because-because-" Thinking quickly, she collapsed on the floor, moaning as if in pain. "Oh... I think my ankle's broken..."

"What? How did you manage to break your ankle by just standing there?"

"I dunno! I just did, okay?"

Sighing, the older man knelt down on the ground beside her. He was about to gingerly press his hand to her ankle when she shrieked and slapped his hand away. He looked at her, bewildered.

"What now?"

"Don't touch it! Are you insane?" Pepper cried, throwing her arms up for emphasis.

"How am I supposed to know if it's broken if I can't touch it?"

More shouts and blasts exploded from the lab, and Howard stood, worry tracing his features as he called his son and Rhodey's names before trying to take a step forward.

"Wait!" Pepper latched onto his right foot, wrapping her arms around his ankle and preventing him from walking any further. "You can't go in there!"

"Pepper, what has gotten into you?" Howard asked incredulously as he peered down at her. Just then, the lab door slammed open and Rhodey and Tony staggered out, looking a bit dazed. The tips of Tony's bangs were singed, his face was smudged with ash, and his red shirt was scorched and was burned straight through to the skin on his shoulder, a red welt showing on his exposed flesh. Rhodey was disheveled, the sole of one of his shoes was burned away, and, for probably the first time since Pepper had met him, he wasn't wearing his grey jacket. Instead, his white t-shirt showed, his jacket bundled together in his hands.

"Where's the repulsors?" Pepper silently mouthed, and Tony's eyes ever-so-slightly flicked to the grey jacket in his friend's hands.

"What on Earth-what could have possibly-how the heck-?" Howard stammered. "What were you two doing?"

"I can explain!" Tony cried desperately. "Um...there was a... mouse."

"A mouse," Howard echoed skeptically. "A mouse did this to you both?"

"Yes," Tony said. "Well, no." He turned to Rhodey for aid, but his friend merely shrugged. "Uh, you see...Rhodey took his shoe off and tried to hit the mouse with it, which is why he is shoeless..." Pepper could practically see the gears in his head turning as he tried to make his story sound authentic. "But he kept missing because he has terrible aim...so he tried to torch it...with a flamethrower, which is why we are burnt."

"And why the lab's ruined..." Rhodey muttered under his breath.

"He tried to torch a tiny little mouse with a flamethrower," Howard mumbled, eyes narrowed with disbelief.

"That thing was evil. I thought it was going to rip my face off or something," Rhodey concluded. Howard's gaze turned from Rhodey's fake smile to Tony's deer-caught-in-headlights look, noting how his son kept nervously tapping his fingers against his jean pockets. He saw that Pepper was now standing, and her ankle seemed to be in fine shape. What were these kids hiding? Then, without warning, he turned to Rhodey.

"What's that in your jacket?" he asked bluntly. Tony's face drained of color and his knees bent slightly as if he was about to buckle to the floor and pass out as Rhodey floundered for an answer, his mouth opening and clamping shut repeatedly.

Pepper chose that moment to stagger over to Tony, collapsing into his arms.

"Oh... I feel faint," she mumbled, putting on her best act as she pretended to pass out in her friend's arms. Tony smiled sheepishly, holding Pepper up and nodding at Rhodey to follow him as he edged along the hall, skirting around his suspicious dad and continuing down the hall.

"I'd love to answer you, but we have to get Pepper to the hospital!" he called over his shoulder.

Howard turned to watch them go, shaking his head slowly from side-to-side.

"My son's a lunatic."

_A/N When I try to lie to my parents, my lies usually spin out into these huge, unbelievable stories. I always end up confessing so they don't ship me off to the nearest mental hospital. XD_


End file.
